


Event Horizon

by ADyingFlower



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Persona Fusion, Angst and Humor, Bullying, Child Abuse, Coming of Age, Developing Friendships, Ensemble Cast, Family Dynamics, Family Secrets, Friendship, Gay Shiro (Voltron), Gen, Gender Issues, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Saving the World, Shiro (Voltron)-centric, Small Towns, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 13:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18993376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADyingFlower/pseuds/ADyingFlower
Summary: When his uncle's health begins to fail, second-year city boy Takashi Shirogane moves to the rural town of Kitamizu to help him recover. But the town hides insidious secrets beneath the soil; mysterious suicides, the phases of the moon possessing people, another realm filled with shadow creatures. It's up to Shiro and his classmates to save the people tossed in the shadow realm through the ancient well, in more ways than one.And what's this power called Persona anyways?





	Event Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> Oh goddddd, I've been writing this for... probably almost a year now? I fell completely in love with this idea, and it's kind of taken over me, to be honest. 
> 
> So this is a Persona AU, but it won't be set in any specific Persona universe. So you don't need to have played any of the games to understand this. If any of you were wondering though, it does have a lot of elements from Persona 4, with some splashes of Persona 5 and 3.
> 
> And there won't be any romance, sorry to say. There might be some hints about teenage crushes or past relationships, but romance isn't a big focus. Just lots and lots of friendship, because why have romance when you can bromance
> 
> Persona Sountrack(s): P4 'Heartbeat, Heartbreak'  
> P5 'Beneath the Mask'  
> (Dream Sequences) P4 'Who's there'
> 
> You can totally ignore the ambient music btw, I'm just playing around with matching soundtracks to chapters, though really only the battle scenes have good music attached to them, lol

  

# Chapter 1: 0 The Fool

Shiro closed his eyes as the train rocked slightly, the transition from smooth city roads to the more hilly countryside.

The Tohoku Shinkansen rail line ran through northern Japan, but luckily, he wouldn’t be going all the way from Tokyo to the very tip of Honshu.

“Yamabiko train from Tokyo to Morioka, take a break for lunch, then transfer to the Yamada line.” He murmured to himself, knowing full well he was getting strange looks for it and not giving a shit about it. “Get off at Miyako station, buy some stuff from the vending machine, _then_ transfer to the Kita Risa line.”

Yep. This was his life. Thank god his mom had written the directions on his arm too. It was also saved on his phone.

He’s had a few experiences with getting lost.

Just a couple.

Tokyo was a wild place. While him and his parents lived in the university district, it was still a huge city, full of nooks and crannies that Shiro would find himself lost in, only to reemerge after sunset with a handful of new phones calls and his curfew well having been passed.

His parents stopped grounding him around the fourth or fifth time and just set him up for brutal self defense lessons instead.

It didn’t stop him from wandering out long after dark, but at least he knew how to throw a punch without breaking his fingers now.

But there would be no more city life for him. Instead, with the duffel bag at his feet and his backpack on his lap, he would be moving to his parent’s home town in the middle of nowhere.

It started when his uncle on his mom’s side, Ulaz, had a stroke last month. His mom had took a leave of absence to help take care of him, but her boss was getting impatient, and their family could _not_ afford to have his mom lose his job. Sorry dad, but your pay sucks.

Shiro’s dad volunteered to go up to help Ulaz with getting to physical therapy and simple house chores, but since his dad could barely microwave a cup of milk without setting the house on fire, it was pretty much immediately vetoed. But then there came the realization that the youngest Shirogane was finishing up with his first year, and while he couldn’t cook either, he at least knew how to microwave convenience store meals.

So here he was, on a six something hour train ride with multiple transfer to the middle of nowhere town of Kitamizu. Apparently, he had been born there, but his parents moved to Tokyo when he was only a couple months old, and haven’t been back since before Ulaz’s stroke. Their extended family always came to Tokyo for the holidays, not the other way around.

It would be his second year in high school, spent away from his friends in the city and in the middle of the country with an uncle he barely knows. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t at least a little bit resentful that he was guilted into this, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. That was the kind of people his parents were - headstrong, impulsive, and caring to a fault.

And Shiro took right after them.

It was a long ride, but he had his portable games on him and a good seat. All he had to do was kill some time.

Easy enough.

 

* * *

 

Pulling into Kitamizu really should have been more dramatic than it was. The seaside village and the surrounding houses were pitch-black, only lit by the occasional streetlight posted every few feet. The desolate train pulled into the station with a loud chime declaring it to be the second to last stop before the stations closed for the night, the doors neatly sliding open. Shiro didn’t even want to know how empty the last stop was.

To even call it a station would be a large generalization. It was more of a long and narrow wooden landing above the ground with a metal awning over head, and the dark station manger box towards one of the ends. The only light was a series of small lights attached to the awning, creating several small circles of light leading him down the stairs.

His phone gave a series of cheery beeps, and Shiro barely glanced at the caller idea before answering, “Hello?”

“Hello, Takashi,” His uncle’s voice greeted him warmly. “I heard the train pull in, where are you?”

“Just at the station, trying to figure out where to go.” He took several steps towards the stairs, peering down into the dark street. Sure enough, a car was parked in the street below, headlights cutting through the dark. “Uncle, did you drive here? You know you’re not supposed to.”

Ulaz chucked. “No, don’t worry. I had a friend drive me to come pick you up. It’s not a far walk to the clinic, but I didn’t want you walking in the dark.” Then, voice tiny as if he was talking to somebody else, “No, I’m not babying him. Do you know how many cases I get of broken ankles because somebody decided it would be a good idea to walk through these hilly, barely paved roads in the middle of the night?”

Shiro laughed, lugging his duffel bag behind him as he quickly descended the stairs. “Oh alright, I’m on my way. See you in a minute.”

“Careful on those stairs, people fall down them all the time -” There was the sound of a struggle, and Ulaz biting out several curses and something that sounded suspiciously like “Give the man who had a stroke his phone back, Kolivan!” before the dial tone beeped.

His uncle, ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between. Shiro honestly doesn’t know that much about him, besides for the knowledge that he’s an unmarried doctor with no children, and thus he tended to baby Shiro to ridiculous amounts. As in trying to rub his spit-covered thumb on his cheek the one time Shiro had dirt on his face from playing soccer.

That was last year. He’s sixteen now.

His phone gave another soft chirp, and with a fond smile, Shiro answered the call without checking the caller ID. “Uncle, I’m almost at the bottom of the stairs, you can wait -”

Static filled his ears. “ **T̶͍̐͂͒͒͛̽̓Á̵̞̥͠ ̴̡̡̩͔͕͎̬̗̓̈́k̵̡̻̦̆̀̎͗́̚Ą̸̞̜̟̞̄̌ ̶̼̱̰̱͈̝͑͜S̸̛͓̣̩͙͕̃̈́̓ḩ̵̨̛̥͍̣̋̊͐̍̌̈́͝Ī̴̮̍̇ ̴̣͍̑s̶̪̫̘̥͈̖̫̅̂̎̍͂̃h̵̰̺͔̫͑̆̏͑̋̎̈́̌I̸̛͔̜̱̫͚̹̽͋̽̔̍̈͜͝ͅṟ̷̭͕̽̒͜Ớ̴̗̣͇̼̯͔̗̔̾̈́͊̎G̴̦̪̺̩̝̈̈̉̏͌͒̓͗a̸͙̮̬̭̳͒Ņ̸̡͖̲̥͒͜͜ͅẽ̵͚̼̞̼̝̠̒͐̇͠** ” A robotic voice said, the pitch alternating with every letter of his name.

He stopped. The caller made a loud buzzing sound.

 

 

“W̵̯̯͙̭̪̹̟̩͔͌͋̓̉̎̿̂͐̔̄̋̔͊̽̔͐̓̉͗̑͠͝e̴̡̧̛̘̘͉̦̯̹͙̞͓̥̜̰̠̮̱̫̤̍̋̏̈́́̊͑̓̄̐͠͝͠͝͝ļ̵̬͔̳̙̙̤̭̥̤͇̙̹̓̅̒͋̂́͊̄̓̂͌̂̓͊̈́̉̿͐̆̀̈́̕͘c̵̨̧̨̮̯͇̙̲͔͗͊̈́̀̾̽̓̉̌̉̽͌̽͌̋̉͠ͅó̵̧̜̺͎̬̤͈͍̻͚̺̣̰̗̺̹̅m̴̢̢̜̹͓̘̺͉̠͚̠̜̖͈͍̬͈̰̼͓͕̉́͜͝ͅͅͅe̸̢͍͓̻̣̯͕̯̯̽̊̎͘͠ ̵̨̩̘̲̟̙̦̯͎̟̜̟͗͜ḩ̸̛͉̰͉̻̮͙̀̃͗̑̿̓̌̔̎̋̓̆̈́͌̈́͐̂̓̚͘͝o̷͎͎͚̺̼̬̠͖̜̤͖̟̖̳̩̗̜̭͌͆̇̈́͝m̷͎̬̞̗͚̽͂̓̒̿̒̑͛̋̅̆̉͊́͛̃̕̚͝͠ȩ̷̨̡̛̞̼͕̖̥̮̘̪̲̪͖̦̜̺̮͍̟̣̖͔̔̾̄̾̓͆̏̃̌͛̿̍̓̒̂͠͝ **.** ”

 

 

His phone made a distressed screech, and then the call was hanged up on, fading back to his vague lockscreen picture of the ocean that was in the folder of recommended backgrounds.

Shiro shivered, feeling more than a little creeped out. Flicking towards his recent calls, Shiro frowned as the only thing that read back to him for the day was a single **Ulaz (1)**.

Whatever that was, his phone didn’t seem to recognize that someone had called him.

...Creepy.

A car horn honked. “Takashi! I realize that as a teenager your phone is very interesting, but dinner is going to go cold at this rate.” Ulaz yelled, leaning out of the passenger side window.

Shiro flinched, hurriedly stuffing his phone back into his pocket. “Sorry!”

Taking the last few steps three at a time (ignoring Ulaz’s scream to "Take it easy!”), Shiro hopped around the back of the car to stick his duffel in the trunk, only sliding into the cramped backseat with his backpack propped in his lap. “Sorry for that, I got a weird phone call.”

Ulaz waved it away. “It’s no trouble. Takashi, meet my friend Kolivan, he’s a police officer. Kolivan, meet my darling nephew Takashi, he’s Fuyu’s son.”

Kolivan, a large sort of man with neatly braided greying hair, glanced back at Ulaz with a raised eyebrow. “Do you have any other siblings?” He asked, voice completely monotone as they slowly took off from the curb.

“Well, no, but I wasn’t sure you knew that.”

“We went to university together. Shared a dorm. I’m pretty sure at this point I should know how many siblings you have.”

Ulaz crossed his arms. “You don’t have to dig it in any deeper, thank you.”

At that, Kolivan let out a sound that wasn’t unlike a snort, but if an elephant made it, and without a single twitch in his expression. Shiro decided, right there and then, that Kolivan was terrifying.

If the way Kolivan seemed to smirk at him without even twitching his lips, Shiro think he knew that too. “So, Shirogane, what was this about a phone call?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, it was all staticy and it sounded like a computer saying my name. My phone hanged up on it midway through.”

Kolivan hummed. “Sounds like just spam. If it keeps happening, let me know.”

“Sure thing.”

Ulaz and Kolivan descended off into a debate/friendly bickering about spam calls, that slowly drifted towards one of Kolivan’s cases that involved a stalker. Shiro tried, but his mind drifted midway through the conversation. Ulaz’s car bounced along the country rode, cutting through silent and dark streets. Kita Risa’s train line followed the ocean, but the town of Kitamizu wasn’t just built along the coast, but _up_ , carved into cliff side and looping up more and more through precariously thin roads. The spread out houses, sometimes lit by a open window or a wall light in their side yards, looked out over towards the dark ocean, a black void blending the sea and horizon together. The world was so dark, so quiet, that Shiro didn’t feel like time was even running, despite watching the minutes tick by from the clock on the dashboard.

The only constant was the stars, peppering the sky, so much more frequent and cleaner than it ever was in the city.

“Less light pollution,” Kolivan said, voice soft. “Away from the big cities, the night sky is a much clearer in small towns. Before school starts up, you should go up to the North Sea well. The sky’s the clearest there.”

Shiro perked up, leaning forward in his seat. “The North Sea well?”

Kolivan nodded his head, his eyes focused on the road as they took another almost 360 degree turn. “It’s what all the teenagers do nowadays - go up to the well on the cliffside and make out.”

Shiro blushed until he was sure his ears were red. “Wh-Wha-No! No!”

Now he was _sure_ that Kolivan was smirking.

“Don’t tease him so much,” Ulaz scolded, turning around in his seat to give Shiro a warm smile. “The North Sea well is a popular spot for people to visit, so you should try to get up there at least once before school starts.”

Shiro scowled at the thought of school, but pushed it aside the thought for more pressing questions. “Why is it called the North Sea well?”

Everyone slid to the left as Kolivan took another sharp turn right, making Shiro mentally curse at the thought of Ulaz thinking this was walkable. Country folks were weird.

“It’s because the Hokumi family founded the town, and the naval base we have.” Ulaz pointed towards the sea of darkness over towards the ocean, presumably where the base was. “It was named in honor of them, like half the damn buildings in the town are. They finally officially died out a couple decades ago, but I’m sure there’s some diluted offspring left around somewhere. Shame I’m not related to them, I would have loved to have a piece of their fortune. My clinic is already swimming in debts.”

Kolivan made a scoffing sound low in his throat. “If you didn’t take on every charity case and stress yourself -”

“Then I wouldn’t be proud to call myself a Moriyama.” Ulaz interrupted sharply, and the tension in the car skyrocketed immensely.

Shiro was never so glad as when they finally pulled up to a weathered clinic. The street light cast just enough light that he could see the wooden ‘Moriyama Clinic’ along with a small sign with the hours on it. The nearest house was at the very end of the street before the turn; the rest was just forest, intimidating in the darkness of the night.

Ulaz unfolded a cane, carefully managing to open the door and shuffle out. “It may seem old now, but I have a truly wonderful view in the daytime. Looks right out over the harbor - most houses do.”

Shiro nodded, sliding out of the backseat to grab his duffel in the trunk while Ulaz gave quiet goodbyes to Kolivan.

“ -be careful, we have another one-”

“-know, worried about having him here-”

“-night, should be fine.” Kolivan cut himself off when he spotted Shiro watching them, breaking apart from Ulaz and starting up the car again. “I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch?”

“We’re still on.” Ulaz nodded, waving goodbye as the window rolled up and Kolivan sped up once more, the sound of the engine quickly fading as the police officer was absorbed by the darkness of the countryside. “Takashi, be a dear and help me up the stairs, will you?”

He startled, jerking his vision from the spot where Kolivan’s car disappeared and back towards Ulaz. “Of course!”

Taking Ulaz’s arm, he guided him up the steps of the clinic, trying not to show his surprise as instead of going through the front doors, Ulaz veered left on the wrap around porch. Sure enough, there was a side door towards the back of the house, which had Ulaz fumbling for his keys.

“I got it,” Shiro plucked the keychain out of his hands, flipping through them quickly for the one with the small ‘Home’ taped on it. He saw several taped ‘Work’ ‘Kolivan’s home’ ‘Thace’ and one simply marked with ‘Rack’ before he finally spotted the purple key.

“Thank you,” Ulaz sighed, leaning on the doorframe. “I’m truly sorry for having to call you out here in your final year to an uncle you barely know, I really thought I could manage by myself.”

He paused for a moment, before going back to fiddling with the key in the lock. “It’s okay.”

It really wasn’t.

“I know you’re mad.” Ulaz admitted.

The lock finally gave way, and Shiro swung the door open, hand fumbling on the wall for a light switch. “I am, but not at you. Just... at the situation as a whole.”

It wasn’t fair, but it wasn’t Ulaz’s fault either. That much he could recognize.

He finally flicked the light on, and the small apartment was revealed. It was roughly square in shape, with a small kitchen to the right and a large porch sliding glass door to the left. There were two door against the far wall, both closed, and a small staircase tucked discreetly behind one of the kitchen’s walls.

“I only have a one bedroom, but I do have space upstairs.” Ulaz pointed up at the ceiling as they both took their shoes off in the genkan and lined them up neatly against the step. “It was supposed to be built up into a space I could rent out, but…” He shrugged. “Not enough money.”

That’s a mood.

“You need help with anything else?” Shiro asked, shouldering his duffel bag and suppressing a yawn. Please say no please say no please say no -

“No thank you.” Thank _god_. “I can do the rest on my own, so you can just settle in. I had Kolivan air your futon out, and there’s some furniture I store up there that you can do what you want with. It's late, far later than I expected you getting in, so I'll put dinner in the fridge for tomorrow.”

Shiro nodded, climbing up the first couple of stairs before pausing. “Goodnight Uncle, see you tomorrow.”

Ulaz smiled softly. “See you tomorrow, Takashi. Goodnight.”

He had to use his phone’s flashlight for the last couple of steps, stumbling on the landing with his hand patting blindly around until he found the light bulb’s chain. Clicking it on, Shiro squinted as the room was flooded with an ugly yellowish light, accompanied by an awful humming sound.

Sure enough, there was a double futon bed shoved into the corner of the rather large room, right under one of the room’s large dark windows. A couple of boxes of what looked like his uncle’s junk was scattered around the room, along what looked like an aged bookshelf and desk combo.

Dropping his duffel bag and backpack next to the futon, he plopped straight down into the pile of blankets, sighing softly as he stared at the ceiling.

It was weird to think that this would be his home for the next year. In a week, he would be starting school with new people in a town he barely knows, but yet is considered his hometown anyhow. Doesn’t even really feel weird, as if it was all just an extended dream he found himself in.

Sleep started to tug at him, and Shiro went to close his eyes -

And realized he left the light on. Dammit.

(If he tripped over several boxes and his own bag on the way back to his bed, then no one had to know. But he swore he heard Ulaz’s laugh from downstairs when he cursed loudly after being sent airborne after tripping over his third box in a row.)

 

* * *

 

Shiro blinked.

His reflection blinked back, slightly out of time. Both of them were floating in the vastness of space, fingers intertwined and breaths shared between them.

“Do you have what it takes?” His reflection asked, galaxies in his eyes and mouth. “Can you save them?”

Eyes as dark as the void, his reflection draws him closer, faces inches apart.

Shiro didn’t say anything - can’t say anything. His mouth is trapped shut as his reflection scurried his eyes over him, looking for something he doesn’t know. And then, it appeared that he finally found it, his face softening.

“I’m rooting for you.” His reflection whispered. “So just this once, I’ll give you a hint.”

Releasing Shiro’s hands, his reflection cupped his face, gently tapping their foreheads together. There was a low melody coming from somewhere reverberating through his bones, echoing throughout the nothiness surrounding them.

“Look for the one with ocean eyes.” He said, and then space fractured around them.

 

* * *

 

Gasping for breath, Shiro shot up in his bed, clenching at the fabric where his heart would be.

He’s never lucid dreamed before, but he had a classmate in middle school who experienced it often. No wonder a lot of people hated it - that was terrifyingly realistic.

Idly, he wondered about what the significance behind the dream was, with his reflection and the stars everywhere. And ocean eyes?

Shaking his head, Shiro clumsily climbed out of his futon, pushing the dream aside. It was just that: a weird dream.

And then he couldn’t think of anything else besides the sheer _beauty_ of the view outside the large window.

Last night, he set the futon up with the head of the bed facing the doorway, so it’s no wonder he never caught sight of it before now, but -

Shiro could see the whole town.

Descending slowly down the mountain, he could see the clutter of houses, their tile roofs peaking through the trees. At the bottom, those very same roofs concentrated into a sea of orange, green, and red houses where the center of town laid. And beyond that -

Was the _ocean_. The naval base Ulaz mentioned was a splotch of darkness in the distance, but he didn’t linger long on it, captivated with the gentle ripples of blue splashing against the sea wall. In Tokyo, sure there was the harbor, but nothing like this, all nothingness with just the occasional cargo ship in the distance.

_“Look for the one with ocean eyes.”_

“Takashi?” His uncle called from down the stairs, and Shiro jerked back from the window guilty. “Are you awake yet?”

“Yeah, I’m awake!” Shiro shouted back, climbing to his feet. He was still in his pajamas, but he didn’t think Ulaz would mind all that terribly much.

Climbing down the stairs was much easier in the daytime than at night, that’s for sure. Blinking at the sight of Ulaz sitting in one of the dining room chairs, Shiro strolled over to grab his own cup of coffee.

“Uh, no.” Ulaz leaned over and swiftly grabbed the cup out of his hands before he could even make it two steps towards the coffee pot. “You’re still a growing boy, coffee is bad for you.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow at him. “Mom lets me have coffee at home, though.”

Ulaz sighed. “Of course she does. Fuyu once let me eat an entire bag of candy as a child, she was never one for…diligence.” He knows this story actually - lived in, in all honesty. His mother was forgetful about the world around her, even her own child, to say the least.

And Shiro will always love his mother, but that didn’t mean that sometimes he didn’t like her.

“Where’s the rice cooker, anyhow?” Shiro asked, mourning a little bit as he puts the mug back in the cupboard. Maybe next time. He’ll just have to get up earlier than Ulaz then.

“Under the sink, why?” Ulaz took another sip from his cup, eyebrows raised. “You planning on making something?”

“Breakfast.” He nodded seriously, having already fished out the rice cooker and was now pursuing through the pretty empty fridge. Briefly, he peeked over the top of the fridge door, eyeing Ulaz’s lab coat. “And lunch.”

Ulaz waved his hands in the air. “You don’t have to do that, really, I -”

“Too late.”

Plopping the bags of rice on the counter, he quietly bemoaned the lack of any real ingredients. Ulaz didn’t even have any eggs!

Washing the rice was easy enough, and so was simply setting it to simmer for long enough. There was some soup mix in the cabinets, that luckily came with instructions on the back. That went on the stove, so now it was onto lunch.

“Where do you keep your lunch boxes?” Shiro finally asked after the fourth excursion looking for _something_ to package the damn food in.

His uncle didn’t even bother looking up from the newspaper Shiro didn’t even know where he procured. “Above the stove.”

_Who even -_ okay Takashi, you’re getting a little too involved in this. This is why you’re not allowed in the kitchen anymore. The fact he blew up the kitchen last time didn’t count.

Interrupting the simmer, he scooped out about a quarter of the rice into one side of the small black box. For lack of ingredients, he stole some of the leftover tofu from the soup and stuffed it into the other side, along with some broccoli and tomatoes he found in the bottom drawer.

Hey, it wasn’t the most appetizing looking dish, but it should feed his uncle while Shiro was off doing...things he hadn’t decided on yet.

The rice mushy enough for porridge now, and so was the miso soup (which he added spices in, something that always drove his dad mad).

“Look, food.” He stated monotonously, dumping the breakfast on the table in front of Ulaz. “Now eat, before I murder you in cold blood and steal everything you own.”

“If you can steal my student debt while you’re at it, I would be most grateful.” Ulaz murmured, dividing up the food between them and digging in.

“Nah,” he shook his head, snorting as Ulaz’s entire face scrunched up at the soup. Being the gracious soul he is, Shiro took the rest of the miso soup and let Ulaz have most of the porridge. “That’s for you to deal with alone, I’m not getting into that.”

It’s hard to see behind the bowl, but Shiro thought Ulaz might be smiling.

Breakfast was over quickly, and while Shiro offered to do the dishes, Ulaz basically told him to get lost or he’d have the verbal equivalent of a stick shoved up his ass.

…Maybe not in those exact words, but close enough.

Shiro went back upstairs, despairs a little bit at how much he has to unpack, not so subtly pushes his duffel bag behind some boxes, and then gets changed into a raglan black and white shirt along with a pair of jeans.

“Takashi!” Ulaz called from downstairs, and stifling a sigh, Shiro finishes getting dressed before popping his head around the doorframe.

His uncle stood at the foot of the stairs, leaning heavily on his cane and, Shiro saw with a note of pride, the lunchbox’s straps pulled tight over his shoulder. “I’m heading out for the day, feel free to help yourself to anything in the house. If you want to explore the town, then either go up to see the temple, or down to see the shops. Not that we have that many…” Ulaz muttered the last sentence under his breath, waving goodbye as he limps out the front door.

“See you later!” Shiro called, eyes drifting back to his room when he hears the front door shut.

He could clean up the room, organize his things, you know, try to be orderly.

Or he could...not.

“Fuck responsibility,” he said, and went to grab his things.

 

* * *

 

The North Sea Well was supposed to be at the top of the highest point in town. Because of course it was. Ulaz’s neighbor who he caught for directions pointed him up towards an old dirt path that ignored the winding roads and went straight up the hill, cutting in between houses and across at least seven streets.

He brought his phone with him for when he got lost, so at least there’s still that.

Panting, he bent over his knees near the top of the hill, ignoring how his camera hangs awkwardly from his neck. It was a gift from his mom for his last birthday, despite him having shown absolute no interest in photography beforehand, him being the kind of child who was impossible to buy for because he liked everything about the same.

_A hobby will do you good, Takashi_ his mom used to scold him, before getting distracted by something or another. She was like that, always so busy, even for her only child. At least his dad was more attentive, despite being a human disaster.

They really shouldn’t have adopted him if neither of them were any good at taking care of themselves, nevermind other people. No wonder Ulaz practically kicked his own sister out of the family owned clinic.

Back on topic, though. Shiro had lots of plans for the brand new expensive camera, mostly involving the town’s only tourist spot - if they got any tourists.

Craning his head back, he squinted at yet another row of moss covered stairs, faded lion dog statues on either side of the shaded stairs. The canopy of trees around the stairs was a blessed relief on the sweat-soaked nape of his neck, and he shivered as he passed under the unpainted torii at the top of the hill. The path steered towards the right in front of the faded shine, continuing up yet _another_ hill.

“I am,” he muttered between gasping breaths. “Never. Doing. This. Again”

At last, the stairs evened out into a covered pathway going over a small lake, a waist high fence discouraging people from taking a day time swim in the rather clear water. Shiro watched schools of brightly colored fish swim underneath the bridge, disappearing into the darkness under the walkway, and bemoaned quietly at the fact that he didn’t bring any of his lunch to feed them.

Trekking out of the temple’s long, outdoor hallway, Shiro shielded his eyes from the spring’s sharp sun, blinking the black spots out of his vision.

“This is has to be the place,” he murmured, idly kicking a pebble. He could see the gentle slope of the hill, half hidden by the forest around them. The hike up the hill was no easy feat, his sneakered feet scuffing against the worn stone steps. On each side of the path were small little shinto shrines, no bigger than his hand. All of them were relatively kept up too - he’s seen a few in Tokyo for ceremonies, but they’re a lot bigger in the city, more like the size of his torso.

Only a little further now, he mused, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

And he was right. And wrong at the same time.

The forest finally ended, but the stone path kept on, weaving its way through the long grass towards the well. Even now, he could see the small, dark shape blotting against the horizon, covered by a small pavilion.

But below it -

Was someone sleeping in the grass.

Edging forward, Shiro waited until he was only a few feet from them. They were curled up in the shade of the pavilion, a heavy book tucked between their arms. With long hair curling down to around their ears, and the thick, lopsided glasses hiding most of their features, he first thought they were female, but now that he was just a few steps away, he tossed the idea away.

Next idea: the boy in front of him was most definitely not human. Or Japanese. Same thing, right? With the light brown hair and the pale, unblemished skin (with a small scar cutting across their cheek, which he wanted to ask about), they were either a forest spirit, or just a foreigner.

_Takashi Shirogane, this is a horrible idea,_ he chastised himself as he slowly raised the camera hanging around his neck up to his eye. _This is probably ten different kinds of illegal, I know he has flowers in his hair and you’re pretty fucking gay but if he rips your spleen out through your throat then it’s all your own damn fault._

But his hands kept moving regardless, adjusting the lens and focusing in, all the way to the small scatter of freckles over the boy’s face.

_Snap,_ the camera shuttered as he finally took the photo. A few more moments, and then the photo was saved into his photo gallery. Maybe he won’t send this one to his mom -

“You done yet?”

He shrieked. Almost flinging the camera 90 degrees straight in the air, he fumbled with his most precious (and expensive) possession but only barely managed to graze it with his fingertips.

The boy in front of him caught it.

“It’s a good thing you’re pretty cute for a stalker,” the boy teased, offering the camera back.

Shiro smiled sheepishly back. “I can delete it…?” He offered as he took the camera back.

He shook his head. “Nah, keep it. If you’re gonna jerk off to something,” he waved his hand down his torso. “Jerk off to this masterpiece.”

Shiro flushed. “I - I -”

The boy snorted. “You’re a shy thing, aren’t you?” He eyed Shiro for a long moment, carefully sitting up next to where Shiro had fallen on his ass at realizing the sleeping flower boy was the very much awake flower boy. “You’re not a tourist, are you? I hate them.”

Shiro quirked an eyebrow. “Well, I’m not going to say anything _now_.”

Laughing, the boy brushed some of the flowers out of his hair, smiling as bright as the sun at him. “You don’t look like a tourist, at least. Visiting family?”

“Close, but not quite. I’m Shiro, I just moved here to stay with my uncle from Tokyo.” Smiling sheepishly, Shiro scratched his forehead as the realization settled on the boy’s face.

“You -” The boy pointed at him, voice going hilariously high pitched. “You’re Ulaz’s Takashi! The one he has the baby pictures of that he keeps showing everyone!”

_WHAT THE FUCK UNCLE_

“Yes,” Shiro gritted out between clenched teeth. “I’m that Takashi. Please never speak of that again, or I might have to raze down this town’s only clinic.”

“Nah.” The boy grinned with sharp teeth. “You were a cute baby. I’m Matt Holt, by the way, a second year. Son of this backward’s town admiral.”

“First of, screw you. Second of all, I have no idea what any of that means.”

Matt slowly smiled, and Shiro felt a cold shiver wrack down his spine at the ominousness of it. “I think we’re going to get along, Shiro.”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” Shiro squeaked.

Matt laughed, still smiling like an evil genius. “Yep, we’re gonna get along _just_ fine. Now come on, I have to show you around the woods and assert my dominance as the alpha of this friendship, your beefiness aside.”

 

* * *

 

The door to _Moriyama’s Clinic_ slammed open, nearly bouncing off the wall with the force of it. Spring’s bright setting sun illuminated the shadowy figure standing in the entryway. “ _UNCLE_!”

Ulaz sighed from where he was bent over doing paperwork. “He found out about the baby pictures, didn’t he?”

Shiro stomped over, mud smeared across his previously pristine shirt and even a few twigs in his hair. “Seriously? It’s bad enough when my parents show them to random guests, but I trusted you not to embarrass me from four hours away!”

“Hey hey,” Ulaz held up his hands. “I never knew you would be living with me in the future. Besides,” he glanced to the side shiftily. “You were such an adorable baby. I was there when your parents adopted you, and let me say, you had the chubbiest cheeks of any baby I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of babies.”

“I would hope so,” Shiro drawled, unimpressed. Ulaz was the only one equipped to deliver them for the oh, next twenty miles or so.

“Doctor!” Came a voice from further into the clinic, and then an unfamiliar man popped his head out from behind one of the three doors. Shiro couldn’t get a good read on the age of the guy, if only that his huge circular glasses and curly hair made him look all of five years old, nevermind how short the guy was, but there was definitely a bit of a five o’clock shadow on the guy and his eye bags were the eye bags of someone who’s undergone the joys of final exams.

Ulaz waved it off with a wave of his hand. “Oh, I’ve forgotten to introduce the two of you. Takashi, this is Slav, my assistant. He’s working on getting his nursing degree, so he’s doing his clinical hours here. Slav, this is Takashi, my nephew.”

“Yes, yes, I know, I’ve seen the baby photos.” Slav brushed off impatiently, making Shiro’s eyebrow twitch. “But Doctor, we’re out of paper towels! Without paper towels, in 28.8 of all realities a spill will happen and you will slip and fatally crack your head open, leaving me to drown in the puddle! I don’t know how to swim!”

What.

For some reason, Ulaz just seemed to take it in stride. “Then why don’t you go buy some paper towels? I’ll lend you some money. And Takashi?” Here, his uncle paused. “Why don’t you take a shower?”

Slav nodded his head eagerly. “Yes, yes, I’ll do that Doctor, thank you. As long as I am not struck by a car, which is in 64 percent -”

Ulaz mouthed ‘run’ at him. Shiro took it.

After Ulaz closed the clinic for the night (and Slav went home), the two of them climbed into Ulaz’s car and drove the terrifying drive to the local grocery store. Both of them were too tired to make dinner that night, so Shiro just popped in some ready make meals into the microwave and they had cheap pasta in compatible silence.

Four more days until his new school started. Needless to say, he was only mildly panicking.

Mildly.

Climbing into his futon for the night, Shiro squinted at the boxes surrounding him, his inner perfectionist telling him to just get it out the way, while his also inner procrastinator was shaking his head frantically in absolute terror at the thought of any kind of responsibility.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, maybe.

He’s probably going to be still unpacking by the time he leaves to go back to Tokyo at the end of the year, more likely. Sounds about right.

Plopping down on his futon, he stares at the ceiling, trying to blow a strand of hair out of his mouth, before giving up and manually pulling it out.

At least Matt, being a demon from hell and all who forced him to sprint around the forest carrying him on his back, exhausted him enough that he should have no problems at all falling asleep.

 

* * *

 

He’s back in space, his reflection nose to nose with him.

“Shiro,” his reflection murmured, nuzzling against him. They breathed, in sync, hands separating only enough to hold onto each other more closely. “Whatever happens, don’t be scared. I’ll be with you, always.”

And this is reflection is gone, crumbling away into stardust, and a single, bright blue butterfly.

 

* * *

 

“Shiro!” Someone was screeching. “Shiro get your beefy ass up, we’re going shopping!”

He jolted up, the blanket falling into his lap. What - who?

“Takashi?” His uncle carefully called from the bottom of the stairs, and Shiro stumbled to his feet, bracing himself on the doorframe as he meets Ulaz’s startled eyes. “Why is Matt Holt standing outside my clinic screaming for you?”

Shiro yawned. “You know him too?”

Ulaz’s jaw dropped. “Takashi - of course I know him! Matt’s the son of Admiral Holt, the man who practically runs the entire naval base, and the naval base town.”

He rubbed his eyes. “Ah, okay.”

Stumbling back into his bedroom, he slammed open his window, leaning out of it to glare at the street below. “Hey fucker, what do you want?”

Matt grinned at him, lovingly flipping him off. “Aw, and here I thought we had something. You were so shy yesterday.”

“I lost the shyness somewhere between you shoving me in a lake and having me film a photo shoot of you proposing to a poor statue of a lion.” Shiro said blandly, bracing his arms on the window. “So what do you want? It’s too early.”

Matt gasped. “It’s never too early to bond with my new best friend. No protests. I’m adopting you now. You’re like an adorable killer bunny.”

“Killer bunny…?”

“But ignoring all that,” he waved off, pointing behind him towards the town. “I wanna show you around before school starts! We actually live pretty close, so we’re walking together to the bus stop, got it?”

Shiro blinked. “Can I get dressed first?”

He sighed. “If you must.”

Closing the window, Shiro yawned as he fumbled around in his duffle bag for another set of clothes. Yanking on a plain t-shirt and a plaid jacket over it, he slipped into a dark pair of pants, brushing his hair down as he rushed down the stairs, his camera bouncing against his chest as he jumps down loudly.

“Sorry I can’t make breakfast this morning, but there should be enough for toast and oranges.” Pausing in the entryway to slip on his sneakers, Shiro cast a look at Ulaz’s slack jawed expression. “I’ll do the laundry tonight, and leave the dishes on the counter, I’ll get to them later. See you later!” Hopping out of the door, he quietly closed it behind him, coming up the side of the house and towards the street in front, where Matt was leaning against the stone wall on his phone.

Glancing up, Matt’s face broke out into a broad grin as he slipped his phone in his pocket. “Finally, old man. Hop to it, we have a lot of walking to do today.”

As they walked to town, cutting between several houses on old dirt paths rather than taking the cement roads, Shiro couldn’t help but notice how everyone kept glancing nervously at Matt, their gazes full of confusion as they dart between the two of them.

But if Matt didn’t want to bring it up, neither would he.

They chatted on the walk down, occasionally trading insults as easy as breathing. Once, Shiro took a photo of Matt mid ramble about something, the sunlight peeking through the trees setting his hair on fire. Matt didn’t say anything about the quiet _click_ , but he did smile a little, voice never ceasing explaining to Shiro the wonders of _Phoenix Ranger Featherman R_.

It was when they were finally at the bottom of the mountain, walking side by side between all the small little family run shops and businesses, that Shiro saw them.

Two boys their age were crouching in front of _Atuaia’s Bakery and Cafe_ , both of them poking something with a stick. They were laughing as they talked, but what caught his eye were their foreign looks as well. Must have family at the naval base like Matt.

Matt suddenly tugged on arm, pulling him towards the two boys. “Hunk! Lance! This is Shiro, my new best friend because both of you suck as friends.”

The heavy-set boy with kind, dark eyes laughed, dropping his stick to come to a stand, towering over both of them easily. He had what looked like a grease-stained apron half tugged off, flour covering his pants from knee to ankle and a pair of goggles strapped to the top of his head. A strange combination, not going to lie, but it seemed to fit him. “Just because I don’t give you my snack money everyday doesn’t mean I’m an awful friend, Matt.”

“Yeah, Matt.” The other boy said, his chin resting in his hand. A large bandage was plastered over his cheek, and his bare arms were slapped with countless colorful bandages, bruises blooming like flowers from where his army jacket rode up, making Shiro want to go out to who ever caused this and introduce them to his fists. He smiled up at them, and Shiro’s breath caught in his throat.

“We’re not bad friends, I promise.” The boy said, staring up at him with blue, _ocean-_ blue, eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> If you see any mistakes, or liked any bit, please please please comment! I'm really in love with this AU and I hope others like it too!


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